The present invention relates generally to a fluid-operated gear machine, and more particularly to a gear machine of the type which can be used as a pump or a hydraulic motor.
Fluid-operated machines are already known, capable of being used as a fluid pump or a fluid motor having a housing provided with a chamber in which two externally meshing gears are mounted, of which one gear is arranged on a drive shaft extending outwardly from the housing to be connected to any foreign element, for example an electric motor. Means for aligning the drive shaft of the fluid pump with the aforementioned foreign element such as a flange of the electric motor are usually required in the known machines. It is to be understood that the drive shaft is not rigidly mounted in the housing of the pump but is able to move a relatively small distance in a radial direction. Until now it has been necessary to use a special arrangement for aligning the drive shaft to the electric motor during assembly. This has been found rather complicated and expensive because of the utilization of special equipment.